Resilient grip for shoes



July 10, 1934. REH 1,966,135

RESILIENT GRIP FOR SHOES Filed Dec. 22, 1933 WWW/i5 KM,

INVENTOR,

BY 6/5 ATTORNEY Patented July 10, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT: OFFICE Y 3 Claims.

This invention relates to securing, fastening or gripping means for shoes, for men, women or. children, particularly shoes of the low cut type and has for its main object to provide con- 5 venient and efficient elastic means to secure the shoe on the foot of the wearer, said means to take the place of the ordinary shoe laces.

Another object of this invention is to provide shoe fastening means which will be relatively permanent, that is, which will not necessitate an unlacing and lacing or similar opening and secur ing operation every time the shoe is taken off or put on.

Still further objects of this invention will be apparent as the specification of the same proceeds, and, among others, I may mention to provide fastening means of the character described which it will be easy to apply to shoes of the present construction, using the holes, for their insertion, now used for the lacing of the shoe, which means may be easily inserted and may stay indefinitely in closed position in the.

shoe to which they are applied, which, however, may be easily and quickly opened up in a temporary manner or entirely removed to be replaced by new ones, and which means will be durable, inexpensive and still attractive in appearance.

In the drawing forming a part of this specification and accompanying the same:-

Fig. l is an enlarged plan view of one form of my elastic shoe securing means, said form preferably being used for mens shoes, while Fig. 2 is a similar view of another form or modification of my device designed particularly for womens shoes;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional elevation of the central part of the form of the device shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view. of a mans shoe showing the form of the device, as illustrated in detail in Fig. 1, applied thereto;

Fig. 5 is a similar View to that of Fig. 4 showing a womans low shoe to which my device of the form illustrated in Fig. 2 has been applied, and

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary detail showing the stretching of my elastic fastening means in the operation of putting a shoe on the foot.

Referring now to the drawing more closely, the primary form of my device shown in Fig. 1 consists of two loops 10 and 11 preferably made of elastic cord of attractive appearance imitating that of a shoe lace, the two ends of which are brought together, as at 12 and 13, by any appropriate means and secured to terminating washers or disks 14 and 15. A preferably sheet metal link 16 connects the two loops 10 and 11;

in this embodiment one end 17 thereof being I closely pressed or crimped on the material of loop 11 so as to be permanently secured thereto, while'the other end 18 of the link 16 is hooked on the material ofthe link 10 in a looser and removable manner so that loops 10 and 11 may be disconnected by lifting the material of the loop 10 from underneath a rebent end 18 of the link 16 whenever it is desired to loosen the shoe without removing my fastening means from the same. x

In use the usual laces or other fastening means are removed from a shoe 19, and in my individual fastening units the left hand loops 10 are unhooked or disconnected from the respective connecting links 16, as has been described hereinbefore, after which the left hand and right hand loops 10 and 11 will be threaded through the respective left hand and right hand rows of holes 20 and 21 respectively, in the shoe, the links 16 being first passed through the respective holes 21 and the washers 14 and 15 coming finally to rest underneath the material around the holes 20 and 21 on the inner side of the shoe between the lining of its upper portion and the tongue 22 of the shoe. The respective right hand and left hand loops l0 and 11 are now connected to one anotherby hooking the rebent ends 18 of the link 16 into the respective loops 10, and when this operation is finished the fastening means for the shoe will appear, as shown in Fig. 4.

In case it is desired to put the shoe on the foot of the wearer the-two sides of the upper front portion thereof will be caught and the elastic fastening means stretched or extended, as shown in Fig. 6, whereupon the foot may be initially inserted into the shoe and then the shoe pulled up on the foot through the aid of the tongue 22, which preferably is made somewhat longer than it is normal with such shoes, at present, and through the usual shoe-horn or other aid. When the shoe is in place my elastic fastening means are automatically returned into their shortened, normal state and thereby causing the shoe to firmly grasp the foot.

The removal of the shoe is done in a similar manner, as will be obvious, and it is also obvious, that my elastic shoe fastening or securing means provide a device by which a pair of low shoes may be put on or taken off in the shortest time, in the most efiicient and comfortable manner, and they will always cause-the shoe to resiliently and elasi a y adhere to the foot of the wearer.

In Fig. 2, I illustrates. slightly modified form of my device which I preferably intend to use in connection with womens low shoes and in this case the left hand and right hand washers 14 and 15 of my resilient fastening means have buttons 23 and 24, respectively, secured thereon and the application of such washers with their buttons and of the two loop members 10 and 11 in this case are practically the reverse thereof used in connection with the men's shoes, as shown in Fig. 4, and in this modification of Fig. 2 the left and right hand loops 10 and 11- will be inserted in the respective rows of holes 25 and 26 in a woman's shoe, as illustrated at 27 in Fig. 5, in a reverse manner, from the outside passing through inwardly, and then the respective right and left loops 10 and 11 will be connected to each other by the central link members 16 in a similar manner described hereinbefore. In the modifications shown in Figs. 2 and 5 the buttons 23 and 24 with their washers 14 and 15 will come to rest on the outside of the shoe and said buttons may have ornamentations thereon to make the appearance of the shoe and of my fastening means more attractive.

What I claim as new, is:

1. In a shoe having an opening and a row of cooperating pairs of holes at the two sides of said opening, a resilient member connecting each pair of holes at the two sides of said opening in the rea ies shoe, and a disk at each end of said resilient member adapted to rest against the material around the respective hole in the shoe and thereby removably and yieldingly secure the respective end of said resilient member, each resilient member being made of two disconnectable elements.

2. In a shoe having an opening and a row of cooperating pairs of holes at the two sides of said opening, a resilient member connecting each pair of holes at the two sides of said opening in the shoe, and a disk at each end of said resilient member adapted to rest against the material around the respective hole in the shoe and thereby removably and yieldingly secure the respective end of said resilient member, each resilient member being-formed of two loops and a link member between said two loops. 1

3. In a shoe having an opening and a row of cooperating pairs of holes at the two sides of said opening, a resilient member connecting each pair of holes at the two sides of said opening in the shoe, and a disk at each end of said resilient mem-' ber adapted to rest against the material around the respective hole in the shoe and thereby removably and yieldingly secure the respective end of said resilient member, each resilient member being formed of two loops and a link member between said two loops, said link member being disconnectable from one of said loops.

MATHIAS- REI-I. 

